NormConf was a tech conference for “serious people who don’t take themselves too seriously”. The topics were “mundane, behind-the-scenes, how-the-sausage-is-made, middlebrow, normcore” themes within the data and machine learning areas of tech.
The organisers needed a logo and brand colour scheme to use on their marketing and physical products, plus slide backgrounds and templates for distribution to their conference presenters.
Final results
Vicki Boykis
NormConf Founder
Barb was an absolute pleasure to work with and deftly crystallized our vision from a bunch of excited rambling conversations into a recognizable logo that set the tone for our event.
The conference was a resounding success, with over 10,000 people tuning in during the day and many more catching up on YouTube afterwards. It received great feedback from attendees, and through ticket sales, raised over $15,000 for NumFocus. You can read more about how it went on Vicki Boykis’ blog.
The design process
The organisers asked for an informal, whimsical but techy-looking logo, ideally using a retro/80s aesthetic in some way. We agreed on working very iteratively, to ensure the whole group could feed back and we wouldn’t spend too much time on one direction too early on.
The moodboard I created after a discovery stage with the client 
Very rough idea dump sketches and notes 
Initial mockups in black and white 
Colour options during the final round of tweaks
Want to work with me?
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Alternatively, if easier, you can email me with your project brief at hello@designsbybarb.co.uk!
